A- Dueling / Chaos / Inspiration / Domination
B- Inspiration / Domination / Dueling / Chaos
C- Dueling / Chaos / Domination / Inspiration
D- Dueling / Domination / Chaos / Inspiration
E- Inspiration / Chaos / Dueling / Domination
DOMINATION
You’ve probably got one of those looks.. the kind that make people uncomfortable when you stare at them, gets them all insecure and squirmy because they feel they’re wrong for arguing with you. You’re the type of Mesmer who likes to be in control of any given situation. You value others opinions, but when you believe you’re correct then it’ll take a battering ram to knock you from your ideals (a battering ram of unyielding logic no less). You’re either a natural leader or that person everyone hates to argue with, but either way you’re will is stronger than most others and you intend to get your way. Try to keep in mind that it’s impossible to always be right, and an alternate perspective isn’t a wrong one.
Your actions decide who will and won’t take action: No one will stomp your allies while you around. All those boons that opponent has? Gone, because you said so. Let no stability stop you, go and dominate your opponents.
- PvP – Lockdown is for you, and you’ll likely want Greatsword for it’s oppressive offense. You’re style is going to be hyper-aggressive in order to keep your enemies constantly trying to react to you rather than stage any sort of offense, and you’ll be often relying on active defense to stay alive rather than tankiness. A keen eye for paying attention to multiple enemies (and of course your allies) is important, and you’ll want to learn how to watch animations. If paired with Chaos, it doesn’t hurt to grab Staff.
Your best bet is to go Confounding Suggestions – Shattered Concentration -Power Block. Your ideal utilities are Mantra of Distraction and Blink though Decoy and Signet of Domination could get fun.
Look into Sigils of Paralysis & Hydromancy / Runes of the Mesmer or Hoelbrak.
- PvE- You’re going to have to get a little chatty, and get really comfortable with the Focus. People who don’t play Mesmer or know dungeon runs well won’t know what you offer or how to best work with you. Explain how you lockdown bosses with reflects like Feedback and iWarden and make sure to type or link “Timewarp” before casts.
DUELING
You’re smart, and you know it. Probably a bit witty, slightly underappreciated, but always on-point when you need to be. You revel in precision and having things done accurately, having no tolerance for sloppiness in your execution, and would rather tackle problems one-at-a-time instead of all at once. You are your own worst enemy, because no one is a bigger critic of your actions than yourself. Yeah yeah, no one is perfect, but in your eyes, that’s no excuse not to try to be. In fact, the beauty of imperfection means we can never stop improving!
You are the reason people fear Mesmer. You’re the devourer of noobs, the burst in the night (Edit: Yeah, uh.. sounded better in my head), the endless army of illusions that smother your enemies both physuically and mentally. For you, the best Mesmer is one with the quickest reflexes. For your enemies, even the toughest have about 10 seconds until death.
- PvP – You’re the Shatter type, so match Dueling with Domination for a winning combination. The best traits for you are Deceptive Evasion and Blinding Dissipation. Get used to a Sword + torch to go along with Decoy and Blink to get all the mobility you need, making it a bit less risky to run around with that greatsword. Conditions will be your worst enemy, but if you’re good at what you do then in many cases you’ll only need one form of mitigation: Not getting hit! (Otherwise mantra of Resolve helps if you don’t trait into Inspiration). Oh, also, Portals will make you meta.
Consider Runes of the Pack or Runes of Lyssa / Sigils of Fire&Air along with Sigils of Energy
- PvE – Your world is one of Mantras, both for the damage boost and the utilities they bring. Instead of Deceptive Evasion go for Harmonious Mantras and be prepared to cycle through different mantras as the situation demands, leaving your other traits for Phantasms (and traiting mainhand sword, your highest DPS weapon).
You’ll likely want Assassin’s gear if you’re not already in Full Zerker. Runes of the Scholar are one of your best bets.
CHAOS
You’ve tried to keep a wallet, or a planner. You may or may not flake on your next engagement depending on how important it is. Why do something now when you could do it later? Actually, lets just do it now and get it out of the way. You’re unpredictable and hard to follow, but that’s part of your charm. You may randomly plan a trip, or go exploring, or do something that makes everyone around you scratch their heads.. but it makes sense to you. You’re one of the “weirdos,” at least in your own head you are, and are simply allergic to the word ‘normal’. That’s cool, but don’t ever forget that everyone does everything for a reason. “I don’t know why I did that” is no excuse not to go find the answer, even when your heart is telling you something your mind disagrees with. Learn to study people, why do we make certain faces? What does that subtle change in tone mean? Normal people are predictable, read them like a book.
Chaos is a more PvP/WvW-oriented supplementary tree. There aren’t many builds you can create with a focus on Chaos, but it does compliment every other type of build. Shatter, Condition, Support, and Lockdown can all benefit from traits in Chaos. Master of Manipulation personifies a trait that will be almost universally useful, making both Mirror and Blink even more gooder as well as reducing the cooldown of one of our elites: Mass Invisibilty. (“gooder,” didn’t expect that right? How chaotic!)
Shatter – Prismatic Understanding
Support – Chaotic Dampening / Bountiful Disillusionment
Condition – Chaotic Transference / Prismatic Understanding
Lockdown – Chaotic Interruption / Chaotic Dampening
INSPIRATION
You’re that guy/girl. Y’know.. The one everyone loves because they’re always so friendly and giving. That’s you, the team teddy bear. You’re the one who makes people cringe when they hear you cuss – because the words actually MEAN something when they come from you! – and the one who everyone would jump to defend because they know that your side tends to be the right side. Perhaps you are giving to a fault, placing the needs of others above your own. Don’t fall into this trap! You’re not just some supporting character in another person’s life story, and you cannot let your own value be determined by how useful you are for other people. You are one of the rare good ones, but you have to make sure you’re set and strong before you can support others.
Though your words help, it is action that inspires people; be the change you want to see in the world.
- PvP – It looks like you’ll either be boonsharing, mantra healing or dropping some glamours. It is hard to build an inspiration-focused Mesmer that is effective, and as a result most people who focus on support usually REALLY LIKE the playstyle. As of now, the (tested) most effective support Mesmer is Dueling/Chaos/Inspiration Boonshare, but this build is not easy to learn nor is it optimal in every situation. You work very well with Guardians, but be careful not to become redundant if there is too much defense on your team already.
You’ll want to invest in Staff and the best traits for you are Restorative Illusions for personal sustain, and Illusionary Inspiration though the other two grandmasters also make great options. If you’re going to heal with Mantras, invade your teammates’ personal space and use Mantra of Pain/Recovery for constant heals. Illusionary Defender, Illusion of Life, Signet of Inspiration, Mantra of Concentration are all good supportive options.
Sigil of Speed is great for boonshare builds. As is Runes of Altruism while Runes of Mercy go great with Medic’s Feedback
- PvE- This’ll be an important tree for no matter what build, as a traited focus is crucial for a lot of PvE content. You can still go boonsharing, essentially running Dom/Dueling/Inspiration but as with all PvE content keep in mind if the situation actually calls for it or not.
